In the wake of social, economic and political reform, an important initiative in the development of palliative care in Albania has been the work of two NGOs: the Ryder Albania Association (RAA) and the religious order, the Little Company of Mary.
RAA began its work in the country in November 1993 and is a registered branch of the Sue Ryder Foundation in the United Kingdom: initially its work was in Tirana, which was then followed by a project in Durres. From March 2000 work also began with Ryder Pristina, an offshoot working in Kosovo, still a part of the former Yugoslavia. Personnel have received palliative care training in Milan, Oxford and London, and Puszczykowo and have organised their own 10-day training programme in home care assistance for terminally ill patients. RAA has received external financial and other support from the International Medical Corps, Caritas (Germany), Medicins San Frontieres, Medicines du Monds and has an exchange programme with Ryder Italia, in Rome.
The Mary Potter Sisters (Little Company of Mary) is a religious congregation of Catholic women, founded in England in 1870; it is responsible for a number of hospice and palliative care services around the world. The sisters came to Korce, Albania, in August 1993 at the request of Ivan Diaes, Apostolic Nuncio for the country, and developed a number of projects for humanitarian aid, including the care of terminally ill people. They also created a modern health care centre, which was opened in October 1996, but destroyed during a period of civil unrest in March 1997. After a break of eight months away from the country, the sisters returned to Korce at the end of 1998 and, following an evaluation of their overall strategy, decided to concentrate their work in palliative care. They opened a palliative care centre in Korce in January 2001.
Most of our respondents from Albania report low levels of knowledge about palliative care among politicians, the general public and health care personnel themselves.
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